Bush mute on aide's CIA leak

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US president George Bush has said he would withhold judgement on
whether Karl Rove, his senior adviser and political strategist, had
identified an undercover CIA operative to a reporter from
Time magazine.

Mr Bush's comment came nearly two years after he said he would
fire anyone in his Administration who had knowingly leaked the
identity of the agent, Valerie Wilson. Her naming spawned a federal
grand jury investigation.

On Wednesday, following the disclosure that Mr Rove had alluded
to the CIA officer in a 2003 interview with Time journalist
Matthew Cooper, Mr Bush said it would be wrong to discuss the case
while the investigation is under way.

"I have instructed every member of my staff to fully co-operate
in this investigation," he said.

The disclosure of Mrs Wilson's identity raised questions about
whether the White House was trying to retaliate against her
husband, Joseph Wilson, for an article he wrote in The New York
Times criticising the President's Iraq policy.